myMADRE

Take Action: Send a Letter of Support to Our Sisters and Their Families in Haiti!

In the traumatic weeks after the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, survivors have endured the loss of loved ones, severe injuries, shortages of food and water, collapsed homes and constant fear of renewed aftershocks. Through it all, we have witnessed the dignity and resilience of the Haitian people and the solidarity of women’s rights activists throughout the region and the world.

Show your support for the women and families of Haiti. Send us your message to them and our partners will translate and broadcast it through the Feminist International Solidarity Camp Radio.

Here is one message that will be broadcast. To write your own solidarity message to the women of Haiti, click here.

To all the women and families of Haiti:

You are in our hearts and minds. We salute your courage and strength during your time of mourning. As you begin rebuilding your homes, your country and your lives - as you set your own course for the future of your nation - we are with you. We stand with you in solidarity and peace.

Take Action: Call on Nicaragua to Allow Cancer Patient a Therapeutic Abortion

Since October 2006, women in Nicaragua have been denied the right to an abortion, even in cases where pregnancy puts a woman's life at risk.

Amelia, a 27-year-old Nicaraguan woman and the mother of a 10-year-old child, has cancer. Despite the fact that she needs to undergo treatment immediately, she was denied a therapeutic abortion.

MADRE was part of a coalition of US-based and Nicaraguan organizations that prepared an international legal challenge to Nicaragua's abortion ban. As a result of this challenge the government of Nicaragua has been asked to review the law banning abortion.

MADRE joins the Strategic Group for the Decriminalization of Therapeutic Abortion in Nicaragua and calls for Nicaraguan authorities to reverse their decision in Amelia's case.

Write the president of the Inter-American Commission, Luz Patricia Mejia Guerrero (luzmejia@hotmail.com), and the Commissioner on Nicaragua, Felipe Gonzalez (Felipe.gonzalez@udp.cl).

Here are links for more information:

• Nicaragua's abortion ban preventing cancer patient from receiving necessary treatment (Feministing, February 23, 2010)
• Groups Petition Inter-American Human Rights Commission on Behalf of Pregnant Nicaraguan Denied Cancer Treatment (RH Reality Check, February 22, 2010)
• Nicaragua Total Abortion Ban Challenged in Case of Cancer Patient (Latin American Herald Tribune, February 20, 2010)
• RIGHTS:  Nicaragua Refuses to Discuss Therapeutic Abortion (Inter Press Service, February 15, 2010)
• Nicaragua: The Reality of Abortion Restrictions Revealed (RH Reality Check, September 10, 2009)
• The Nicaraguan Abortion Ban Tortures Women (myMADRE, July 29, 2009)

Event: Comparative Strategies to End Violence Against Women

To all myMADRE readers in the New York City area: we'd love to see you at this event next week!

Join MADRE for a Panel Discussion & Photo Exhibit

Addressing Violence Against Women

Women using human rights to strengthen anti-violence strategies: Afghanistan, Sudan, Colombia and the United States.
 
March 3, 2010
From 12pm - 1:30pm

Lunch Included!

United Nations Church Center (10th Floor)
777 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017

 

 See a map »

 

 Sponsored by MADRE and the Center for Women’s Global Leadership.

 

 View and Print a Flyer for the Event.

Round-Up of the "Colombian Children of War" Video Series

Our online video series on "Colombian Children of War" has come to an end!  We hope that you found the videos we've been posting over the past two weeks worthwhile and that you had the chance to learn more about our work with our amazing sister organization Taller de Vida.

In case you'd like to revisit some of the entries in this series, here is the full list:

• Colombian Children of War Speak Out – A VIDEO SERIES (February 12)
• The Use of Child Soldiers Worldwide (February 13)
• What It Means To Be a Woman in Colombia (Feburary 16)
• Girls Growing Up in an Armed Group (February 16)
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Use of Child Soldiers (February 17)
• Partnership to Protect Children of War (February 18)
• Three Color Circus (February 19)
• The Power of Theater (February 22)
• Rapping at Fear (February 23)
• Sueños pa’ lante (Dreams going foward) (February 24)
• Bogota: Like Any Other City (February 25)

Photos and Videos from Feminist Organizers in Haiti

Earlier today, we received a communication from Maria Suarez, a journalist and activist.  Maria has been involved in the MADRE-supported Feminist International Solidarity Camp that was created after the massive earthquake struck Haiti in January.  Through that initiative, women's groups have been providing emergency medical services as well as participating in advocacy to advance women's leadership in the reconstruction process.

Below are the slideshows, made up of photos and videos gathered from different areas in Haiti, that we received from Maria.

Be sure to also visit the website of the Feminist International Radio Endeavor, an organization led by Maria Suarez, that has also been posting radio segments related to the efforts of the Feminist International Solidarity Camp.

Bogota: Like Any Other City

We're getting close to wrapping up this video series on child soldiers and the conflict in Colombia.  In today's video, originally posted the website of our sister organization Taller de Vida, we are presented with a series of observations and reflections on the city of Bogota.  We see what Bogota has in common with any other city, including in the cultural expressions of its communities in dance and performance.  But then we see what it means when violence becomes a threat to those communities.

The video above is in the original Spanish.

Sueños pa’ lante (Dreams going foward)

Internally displaced people face marginalization and discrimination – and the situation is only worse for young pregnant women. This is the story of Sandra and her daughter Tania, who along with their family, arrived in Los Altos de Cazuca running from the violence and war in Colombia. In this country, with the second highest number of internally displaced persons, being a woman and underage increases one’s vulnerability and chance of becoming a victim of human rights violations. Sandra’s story reflects the enormous gaps that exist between social policy and the respect and protection of the basic human rights, where internally displaced persons not only endure the horrific consequences of war but also suffer from the absence of government support and aid.

Sandra not only had to overcome the overwhelming feeling of being displaced and arriving at one of the most marginalized neighborhoods in Bogotá, but also had to find a way to support her family. Her proactive and positive attitude led her to engage in a search for a way to help kids in her neighborhood by making a video proposal so her community could benefit from it. She narrates her story through a video documentary made by students of Taller de Vida, MADRE’s sister organization in Colombia.

She explains:

“There are people here who are fighting for their dreams, that’s what really matters.”

Being forcibly displaced to a neighborhood like Altos de Cazucá can become a traumatizing experience and in many cases expose the most vulnerable populations such as woman, girls and boys to a series of human rights violations and crimes. In many cases there is not only a deprivation of basic needs such as shelter and food, but also access to health, education, among others.

Rapping at Fear

In a country torn by war and armed conflict, with no apparent end, we see the story of a young 13-year-old.  Despite widespread silence imposed by armed groups in Colombia, he has recovered his voice through rap and the use of video.

His story is one of many where violence and fear leaves little choice but to seek shelter in big cities, only to find themselves continually marginalized.  He describes how their basic needs are rarely met and how they become victims of discrimination, lack of opportunities, and in many cases the same violence that displaced them in the first place.

With the support of the MADRE sister organization Taller de Vida, he has been able to tell his story and "rap at fear" as a way to confront the irregular armed “social cleansing” groups that continue to enforce their control in the outskirts of the city of Bogotá.

And he's still rapping:

Click To Play

The Power of Theater

Welcome to the second week of our video series, Colombian Children of War Speak Out!  For the past week, we have been posting videos highlighting the children and youth involved in the programs provided by MADRE's sister organization, Taller de Vida.  To find out more about Taller de Vida, click here.  

The theater program referenced above, one of the many innovative art programs developed by Taller de Vida, gives youth the opportunity to publicly perform full theater plays.  Through the power of theater, participants are provided a safe space as an outlet to express themselves and to escape their daily realities of violence and conflict. The youth involved in the theater projects are also actively learning a professional skill, while gaining new perspectives on life and developing into stronger individuals.

When asked about  the role that theater plays in the lives of Colombian youth, one program participant replied:

"Theater, like many things in life, help young people, but it depends on how you use it.  [Theater] uses discipline and particularly it helps young people expand their knowledge, their expectations and their perceptions."

The video above, produced in partnership with Youth Radio, takes a look into the transformative effect of theater on the lives of the youth who are involved.  Just a sampling of some of their comments on the experience shows this:

"Theater is a language that makes me feel good.  I like to take my daily situations on stage."

"It's an activity that has helped me grow."

"It's a way to express yourself in public in front of an audience."

Three Color Circus

A few months ago, we shared this video above with you, coupled with a series of reflections by Miguel Macias. Miguel is a youth media producer, MADRE volunteer and an assistant professor at the department of Television and Radio at Brooklyn College--and many of the videos we've been showing you this week are the result of his guidance in leading a multimedia workshop with youth in Bogota.

Miguel reflected on his experience, saying:

Memory is a funny thing. I am fascinated by it. Perhaps because my own memory is always influencing what I do. Teaching these young students from Bogota I wonder about their memories. And I wonder about how those memories shape who they are. One of the people I met in Bogota told me: "I've met people who have gone through horrible things, and they are fine. No psychological consequences... that I can see". But can it be that these young people are immune to the kind of things they went through? Some of them certainly look like it. That is... assuming that the kind of things they went through are actually horrible and traumatic for them. Maybe these realities are just the norm for them. Maybe they grew up with them and never saw this environment, this political violence the country has been involved in for so long, as extraordinary. Nothing extraordinary.

Read the rest here.

Earlier this month, the Youth Radio website posted some additional reflections from one of the young people who helped produce this video:

In Colombia people take advantage of the chaos to survive. But the characters you’ll find in this video piece are different from the displaced citizens who found at a traffic light what they could not find in the places where they came from when they were violently pushed out. The characters you’ll see in this video are people who have their basic needs satisfied. They work at the traffic lights because they enjoy it, because they love art. You can find them at any Bogota street, full of happiness and magic. Their dreams live on the streets for a short period of time. The streets, which are a different world. It is there where you can witness the solidarity, the proof that there are good people who hustle, who found in this informal employment, the way to keep going.

Read the rest here.